%0 Journal Article
%T Proteomic Analysis of Growth Phase-Dependent Expression of Legionella pneumophila Proteins Which Involves Regulation of Bacterial Virulence Traits
%A Tsuyoshi Hayashi
%A Masahiro Nakamichi
%A Hirotaka Naitou
%A Norio Ohashi
%A Yasuyuki Imai
%A Masaki Miyake
%J PLOS ONE
%D 2012
%I Public Library of Science (PLoS)
%R 10.1371/journal.pone.0011718
%X Legionella pneumophila, which is a causative pathogen of Legionnaires' disease, expresses its virulent traits in response to growth conditions. In particular, it is known to become virulent at a post-exponential phase in vitro culture. In this study, we performed a proteomic analysis of differences in expression between the exponential phase and post-exponential phase to identify candidates associated with L. pneumophila virulence using 2-Dimentional Fluorescence Difference Gel Electrophoresis (2D-DIGE) combined with Matrix-Assisted Laser Desorption/Ionization¨CMass Spectrometry (MALDI-TOF-MS). Of 68 identified proteins that significantly differed in expression between the two growth phases, 64 were up-regulated at a post-exponential phase. The up-regulated proteins included enzymes related to glycolysis, ketone body biogenesis and poly-3-hydroxybutyrate (PHB) biogenesis, suggesting that L. pneumophila may utilize sugars and lipids as energy sources, when amino acids become scarce. Proteins related to motility (flagella components and twitching motility-associated proteins) were also up-regulated, predicting that they enhance infectivity of the bacteria in host cells under certain conditions. Furthermore, 9 up-regulated proteins of unknown function were found. Two of them were identified as novel bacterial factors associated with hemolysis of sheep red blood cells (SRBCs). Another 2 were found to be translocated into macrophages via the Icm/Dot type IV secretion apparatus as effector candidates in a reporter assay with Bordetella pertussis adenylate cyclase. The study will be helpful for virulent analysis of L. pneumophila from the viewpoint of physiological or metabolic modulation dependent on growth phase.
%U http://www.plosone.org/article/info%3Adoi%2F10.1371%2Fjournal.pone.0011718